TAYLORVILLE – One of the largest December outbreaks of tornadoes in Illinois history took place Saturday.
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While the Riverbend area was mostly spared from the devastating storm system, which caused “catastrophic damage” in nearby Taylorville, several communities just to the north were struck with funnel clouds and touchdowns ranging on the Enhanced Fujita Scale – the system used by meteorologists to classify tornadoes by their wind speed. In that scale, an EF-0 has 65-85 mph winds, EF-1 has 86-110, EF-2 has 111-135, EF-3 has 136-165, EF-4 has 166-200 and EF-5, which was made extra famous by the 90s move, Twister, is any tornado with a wind speed more than 200 mph.
The strength of the tornado hitting Taylorville has not been released by the National Weather Service (NWS) office based in Lincoln, Illinois, but 22 people were reported injured by that system.
In Illinois, tornadoes in December are not unheard of, in fact there is a growing list of largest December outbreaks in Illinois. This storm system may make it to the top of the list, if not a close second. The number one was Dec. 18-19, 1957, which saw a whopping 21 tornadoes touch down in the state. Dec. 23, 2015 is currently number two with six.
The tornadoes moving through Illinois were measured by both that office as well as the NWS offices in St. Louis. Each has a list of the tornado strength rankings for each tornado touchdown recorded on Saturday in the state.
Here's a list of the tornadoes striking just north and east of the Riverbend coverage area:
Pleasant Hill 1
EF-0 (85mph), traveled 0.11 of a mile, had a width of 25 yards. Lasted less than a minute after touching down at 1 E Pleasant Hill around 1:54 p.m. No injuries reported.
Pleasant Hill 2
EF-1 (98 mph), traveled 0.08 miles, had a width of 25 yards. Lasted less than a minute after touching down at 2 NE Pleasant Hill around 1:56 p.m. No injuries reported.
Pleasant Hill 3
EF-0 (85mph), traveled 0.03 miles, had a width of 25 yards. Lasted less than a minute after touching down at 2 NE Pleasant Hill around 1:58 p.m. No injuries reported.
Valley City
EF-1 (110mph), traveled 0.6 miles, had a width of 110 yards. Lasted two minutes after touching down at 1 NNW Valley City around 2:40 p.m. No injuries reported.
Staunton
EF-1 (110mph), traveled 1.39 miles, had a width of 50 yards. Lasted two minutes after touching down at 2 NE Staunton around 3:59 p.m. No injuries reported.
Raymond
EF-1 (100mph), traveled 8.02 miles, had a width of 75 yards. Lasted 12 minutes after touching down at 3 WSW Honey Bend around 4:09 p.m. No injuries reported.
Litchfield-Butler
EF-2 (115mph), traveled 7.93 miles, had a width of 100 yards. Lasted 13 minutes after touching down at 2 SE Litchfield around 4:16 p.m. No injuries reported.
Blue Grass Creek
EF-1 (100mph), traveled 2.0 miles, had a width of 50 yards. Lasted four minutes after touching down at 4 E Honey Bend around 4:32 p.m. No injuries reported.
Harvel
EF-0 (80mph), traveled 0.06 miles, had a width of 25 yards. Lasted less than a minute after touching down at 4 E Harvel around 4:47 p.m. No injuries reported.
Brooklyn (Schuyler County)
EF-1 (90mph), traveled a mile, had a width of 100 yards. Lasted two minutes after touching down north of Camden around 3 p.m. No injuries reported.
Beardstown
EF-1 (100mph), traveled 4.3 miles, had a width of 200 yards. Lasted eight minutes after touching down south of Beardstown around 3:25 p.m. No injuries reported.
Bluff City/Lewistown
EF-1 (105mph), traveled 15.9 miles, had a width of 450 yards. Lasted 27 minutes after touching down in an open field a half mile southwest of Bluff City around 3:51 p.m. No injuries reported.
Easton/Forest City
EF-1 (105-110mph), traveled 11.8 miles, had a width of 250 yards. Lasted 24 minutes after touching down near the intersection of 1200N and 2250E around 4:53p.m. One injury was reported.
Manito
EF-0 (85mph), traveled 0.3 miles, had a width of 50 yards. Lasted about a minute after touching down northeast of Manito around 5:34 p.m. No injuries were reported.
Morrisonville
EF-0 (80-85mph), traveled 3.1 miles, had a width of 200 yards. Lasted about six minutes after touching down near the southern border of Christian County. No injuries were reported.
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